Kick It Long For God's Sake

[Windy_Hill]

Why cant the players have a standing rule "WHEN IN DOUBT, KICK THE BALL AS FAR AS YOU CAN UPFIELD TOWARDS THE BOUNDARY LINE". This is a practised tactic in four other football codes - NFL on the fourth down, 99% of the time its safer to punt the ball upfield even if that means giving up possession. Soccer, more often than not the Goal Keeper will kick the ball from a Goal Kick, over the half way line, often losing possesion. Rugby, rather than risking a loss of possession deep in the opposition's half, they will punt the ball upfield - to safety - even if they lose possession. Rugby League, predetermined number of tackles after which the team in possession belts the ball, you got it, as far upfield as possible and turn that possession over to the other team.

Now, I realise that in AFL, the penalty for losing possession can come quickly as the game is far more free flowing and does not have an off-side rule. But even so, it must surely be better to risk the counter attack from deep in the opponents defensive half rather than from within 50M of their goal.

Too often against Carlton I notice players stopping, baulking and looking around for someone in close to handball to. Clearly there are no options upfield (this is another Knights coaching SNAFU - when we get the ball, there are usually no forwards in the F50 as they have all zoned back accross the midfield. This means Essendon can never score goals on the fast break like every team does against us - did you notice how often Carlton players were one out in their forward 50 and could virtually walk into the goals and score!)

I still think, if there are no options upfield, better to still kick it long towards the boundary line.

[BenDoolan]

I hear ya, I hear ya. I thought, and hoped, we had changed our ways since the West Coast game. But alas, we have reverted back to the way we were when we were super shit.

[Ronny Rotten]

Hear , Hear , absolutely 100% hear, hear .

FFS the crowd cannot be wrong I am saying along with other supporters around me , kick the friggin thing LOOOONG . You see serial offenders eg dismall Prismall , Watson , Houli etc as soon as they get the ball they shape to handball regardless. You'd swear they had runners on instead of footy boots. Invariably they would then handball to someone's ankles or in a worse position or are covered , consequently a turnover results instead of the pill being 50meters closer to OUR GOAL.

Other sides seem to handball only when in trouble or they have a man clear to advantage then bang it long to the goal square but no our guys want to "piss fart" around handball backwards & forwards going NO F&#%^N WHERE. Believe me the backs don't want to see a ball coming in quickly to the square but this option seems to be our last resort.

Neagle & Hardingham should be told to stay close to the square ready for these opportunities. Neagle at CHF last night FFS. whose bright idea was that , he can't run out of the square without getting stuffed & to have him at CHF was stupid.

[CSol]

Sorry a more relevant thread might be

"Kick it straight for f*** sake!!!"

Our kicking in general is just farked.

Neagle, Gumby, Hardingham, Froggy, all forwards who have kicking actions that should have been sorted out in the under 16's. Get a kicking coach in and have these guys kick 1,000 times a week or until thier foot breaks off which ever happens first.

[j-mac31]

A-f*****-men!

A turnover at half-forward is much less worse than one at half-back.

[robrulz5]

I know the conditions were different but at times in the Adelaide- Bulldogs game the Dogs didn't have anyone in the forward line in the last quarter and still kept kicking it as far forward as possible when in trouble.

[Windy_Hill]

Well we must all know stuff all about footy then coz Knighta clearly doesnt agree

[BenDoolan]

Well we must all know stuff all about footy then coz Knighta clearly doesnt agree

That's why the scans show what they show.....

[rockhole]

If the only positive to come out of this year is the board tapping Knights on the shoulder and stating very clearly to him that his game plan of playing on at any cost is total shit, then it has not been a complete waste of time.